Alternative Metal

Alternative metal, or alt-metal, is a fusion of heavy metal with alternative rock and other unconventional influences, characterized by downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a blend of melodic and harsh vocals, and occasional experimental sounds. Emerging in the 1980s with bands like Faith No More, Living Colour, Soundgarden, and Jane’s Addiction, the genre gained prominence in the 1990s through acts like Helmet, Tool, and Alice in Chains..

Subgenres such as rap metal and funk metal played a role in shaping nu metal, which further expanded alt-metal’s sound by incorporating hip-hop, thrash, hardcore punk, and industrial elements. Nu metal surged in mainstream popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s with bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, System of a Down, Linkin Park, and Slipknot, but its dominance waned after the mid-2000s as many bands evolved into different styles.

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    Alter Bridge – Alter Bridge

    Alter Bridge – Alter Bridge This Album is tightly honed andcommands attention through certainty and force. Alter Bridge stands firm and unflinching. The band uses sound as a tool of purpose, anchoring every song in tight gallop, punch, or reflection. Guitars bite into the mix with clear intent, drums insist on forward motion, and vocals…

  • Incubus

    High school is a great place to start a Rock band. However, it’s difficult to keep the thing going once everyone graduates. In ’91, Incubus came together with school chums Brandon Boyd (vocals), Mike Einziger (guitars), Alex Katunich (bass) and Jose Pasillias (drums). Soon the group was playing the all-ages club circuit throughout their native…

  • Falling In Reverse

    Falling In Reverse scored a #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart with “All My Life,” a Country-Rock collaboration between the band and Jelly Roll (Jason Bradley DeFord). All My Life Later in 24, the band’s fifth album, “Popular Monster” dropped followed by a U.S. tour. Next was a U.K. run of dates.  But the band…

  • Halestorm – 10 Best

     “As a kid, when a lot of my friends were into Backstreet Boys, I attached myself to Alice Cooper, Cinderella, and Van Halen,” Lzzy Hale, Halestorm frontwoman, said in an interview. Halestorm, essentially a melodic Metal outfit, regularly displays those influences. #10. Amen According to Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale “the song is about personal freedom…

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    HEALTH – Conflict DLC

    Conflict DLC distills HEALTH’s industrial-metal vision into a concise, punishing release. Short runtimes, heavy rhythms, and damaged vocals shape an album obsessed with pressure and collapse, delivering impact through discipline rather than excess.

  • Staind

    It’s Who You Know:In a business built on connections, Staind almost blew it. The New England group, with a self-released album out, was opening a Hartford, CT, show for Limp Bizkit in ’97. Bizkit’s Fred Durst was given a copy of the album but seeing what he thought were Satanic references in the cover art,…

  • Corey Taylor

    “CMFT,” which went to #44 on the Billboard 200 (#6 on the Top Rock Albums survey) was a departure from Taylor’s previous work. Two years later, Taylor released “CMFB… Sides” It has B-sides, live versions, and covers. Corey Taylor, the Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman, released his debut solo album, “CMFT,” in ’20. The album contained ““Black Eyes Blue,”…

  • Jane’s Addiction

    Numerous bands, with their best days long behind them, set aside long-standing disputes and regroup to record and tour. It offers a chance to perform again and score a paycheck. Usually, these efforts garner some attention and enthusiasm but very little in the way of headlines. An exception happened in September of ’24. Jane’s Addiction…